Comfort
by Umi Mikazuki
Summary: Ratchet doesn't just heal physical wounds.


Disclaimer: Transformers is not mine.

I have no idea where this stemmed from. For serious. It just HIT me at work.**  
**

**Comfort**  
By Shaela Dennis  
7.30.07

Ratchet noticed that Mikaela was acting oddly.

Usually, when she visited him to help with Jazz's repairs, she was very talkative. This night, however, she'd barely even said ten words to him. He kept glancing over at the human girl as she sanded down pieces of metal for him.

Something was wrong with her. Maybe she was sick? He did a quick scan for biological viruses; the results were negative. However, her heart was beating irregularly and she kept biting her lip and blinking rapidly. He hadn't been on Earth long enough yet to be fluent with human body language, but he was pretty sure she was worried about something.

The mech knew that his 'overwhelming bluntness', as Mikaela put it, never failed to make her laugh (even if it embarrassed her horribly, as it usually did). Tentatively, he tried to lighten the mood, "I was searching the web today for more information on Earth vehicles and their inner workings, and came across something very interesting. It seems a great deal of young humans like to mate in the backseat. Why is that?"

She stiffened, her face going pale. Now this was unusual. Normally, when he brought something like that up, it turned varying shades of red. His scanners told him that her heart had started beating faster, and she seemed to have slight difficulty breathing.

"Mikaela? Are you alright?" Ratchet put down the tool he was holding and looked at her, not sure of what to do. Saline fluid was beginning to leak from her optics – _eyes_ - he corrected himself. She was crying.

Her shoulders shook, and she leaned heavily on the table the sander was on, "My best friend is in the hospital, with three broken bones and a fractured skull. Trent, the guy I was dating before Sam, beat and raped her. The doctors said she's lucky she survived."

Ratchet's optics dimmed as he searched the internet for the unfamiliar term. He was fairly shocked at what he found. _The human race never ceases to confuse me with how they can be so cruel, yet so kind at the same time._

"You are worried for her, but I sense there's something more to it."

Mikaela smiled wanly, "You'd be a pretty good psychiatrist."

"As a medic, I have to look out for my patients' mental health, as well as physical. It's obviously bothering you. What is it?" He sat down next to her as gently as he could.

Hesitantly, she sat down as well, her back against his leg, and wrapped her arms around her knees. "I just keep thinking that if Bumblebee and Sam hadn't have met and started this crazy chain of events, that that could have been me. I knew he had a temper, but I didn't think that he'd ever…" she gulped and buried her head in her arms.

Ratchet frowned and said softly, "It's pointless to worry about what could have been." He placed one massive finger on her shoulder in what he hoped was a comforting gesture.

"I know, and I keep telling myself the same thing. I feel guilty about it, because all that kept going through my head when I saw her laying on that bed is that it's my fault it happened to her instead. He was furious with me! He yelled at me about how I must be a fucking idiot for dumping him and going for a loser like Sam. Lisa…she's had a thing for Trent for over a year, and she was quick to take my place. A few days ago, I saw a bruise on her face, and she told me she'd just walked into a wall. I should have noticed how fake her smile was. I should have realized he was taking out his anger on her!" The girl shook, tears streaming down her face. "If I hadn't have dumped Trent, Lisa wouldn't have been hurt."

The medic was silent for a moment, another finger going to her opposite shoulder and pressing her against his leg gently in a sort-of-hug.

"It was _not_ your fault. From what I gather, he was violent to begin with, and he more than likely would have assaulted another female in the future."

"What if Lisa blames me?"

"If she does blame you, then she isn't a true friend. You trust her, yes?"

Mikaela's shaking began to subside, "We grew up together, I'd trust her with my life."

"And how did she react when you visited her in the hospital?" Ratchet pressed.

"She just smiled at me and said that she had horrible taste in men, then told me to give her a hug."

"Would she have said that if she was angry at you?"

He was pleased to see her smile at that. "No, she wouldn't."

"See? There's nothing to worry about." The mech smiled down at her. "Law enforcement has him under custody, and she's recovering."

The human frowned, "Physically, yeah. But mentally? Rape is one of the most horrible things that can happen to a person."

Ratchet made a low, rumbling noise in his chassis. "…I won't pretend that I could possibly understand what she went through, considering my race has nothing even remotely similar, but I will say this: she's still alive. Hopefully, she will get stronger from the experience, learn from her mistakes, and not let it destroy her. Just be there for her when she needs you."

"Thank you, Ratchet."

They sat in silence for several minutes, Mikaela resting her hand on one of his fingers. "We should get back to work. You won't tell the others about my breakdown?"

"Of course not. Doctor-patient confidentiality isn't just a human thing."

"So now you're taking on human patients?" she grinned.

The medic quirked a metallic eyebrow at her, "As I've told many a 'bot, if I've worked on them once, their afts belong to me. You're no exception."

--

He's not always a grumpy old mech.


End file.
